About the French...
I agree that the Bass looks just about as French as it does English. I was reading now that one maker (Barbe Pere') gradually tapered the upper bout to the Neck without any angle bend. I have heard this trait before about the French. I am not 100% sure though that the Bend is original. Or is it?
If this is a French instrument (Bass or Violone), then who were the makers c.1800 (+/- 25 years est.) that might have made large Gambas like this? I wish I had as many books on French makers as I do of the English. Probably very few were written and even less written in English!
So, broadening the search to include France adds more possibilities. Now it seems that instead of looking for a Frenchman or French influenced maker working in England we are also be looking for a Frenchman with some use of the half-Purfled style (English Ink Back/Purfled Top) that 18th Century London had occasionally produced.
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